Setup

Preparation

General

You must be administrator of the web server. Using a local administrator account is recommended. You must know:

  • The physical path on the web server where the WorkflowGen web application will be installed

  • The physical path on the web server where WorkflowGen Windows services will be installed

  • The URL of the web server where WorkflowGen will be installed

  • MS SQL Server database:

    • the name of the MS SQL Server

    • the credentials of the SA account

    • the file path of the SQL Server database files on the SQL server machine

  • Oracle database:

    • an existing Oracle data source name

    • the credentials of the database user account that has creation permission on the specified Oracle instance (see the next section for Oracle database installation parameters)

  • The name or IP address of the SMTP gateway (we recommend using the IIS SMTP gateway; see SMTP Notifications)

  • The default sender email address for notifications

  • The authentication method you want to use for WorkflowGen web applications

Requirements for installation on Oracle databases

WorkflowGen and Oracle 10g on the same server

  • National and Database character sets are both UTF-8

  • Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.3/10.2.0.4) Standard

WorkflowGen and Oracle 10g on separate servers

  • National and Database character sets are both UTF-8

  • Oracle Server: Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.3/10.2.0.4) Standard

  • WorkflowGen Server: Oracle Database 10g Client Release 2 (10.2.0.3)

WorkflowGen and Oracle 11g on the same server

  • National and Database character sets are both UTF-8

  • Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1.0.6.0) Enterprise with Client software installed

WorkflowGen and Oracle 11g on separate servers

  • National and Database Character Set are both UTF-8

  • Oracle Server: Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1.0.6.0) Enterprise

  • WorkflowGen Server: Oracle Database 11g Release 1 Client (11.1.0.6.0)

WorkflowGen and Oracle 12c on the same server

  • National and Database character sets are both UTF-8

  • Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2.0) Standard

WorkflowGen and Oracle 12c on separate servers

  • National and Database character sets are both UTF-8

  • Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2.0) Standard

  • WorkflowGen Server: Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2.0) Client for Microsoft Windows

Authentication method

Check that the SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES parameter of DRIVE:\OraHome\network\ADMIN\SQLNET.ORA is set to NONE. This file is located on your web server.

Create a new tablespace (if WorkflowGen is set up on a blank tablespace)

  1. In DBA studio or from SQL Plus, create a new tablespace called WFGEN with a minimum file size of 100 MB.

  2. Once the tablespace is created, you should specify the Database and National character sets to UTF-8.

  3. Create a user account with the following settings:

    • Temporary and default tablespace: WFGEN

    • Role: DBA or a more restrictive access. Initially, the user must have creation rights on the structure schema (tables, index, constraints, etc.). However, once the structure is created, only read/write rights are necessary.

Optimizer mode

To improve WorkflowGen database performance, check your database optimizer mode. If optimizer_mode is set to choose (the default in Oracle 9i and 10g), you have to frequently (weekly, for example) ANALYZE all the tables of your databases. This operation will generate statistics used by the optimizer to select the best mode (RULE instead of all_rows) to run an SQL query. Another solution is to set the optimizer mode to RULE.

System tables optimization

The System.Data.OracleClient provider used by WorkflowGen generates SQL instructions against some system tables (all_synonyms, all_cons_columns, and all_constraints). When those tables contain a lot of records (such as when WorkflowGen database shares the same Oracle instance with other databases), performance can be affected when launching or completing a request or action.

One way to minimize issues with response times when launching new requests or actions is to redirect these SQL instructions to local scope views/tables, which are filtered copies of these system tables. These changes are transparent to WorkflowGen.

To do this, run the SQL instructions below (replacing WFGEN_USER with your owner name) against your WorkflowGen database. (If the database owner has other tables used by other applications, you can still apply this procedure if those tables don’t use synonyms.)

Note: We suggest dropping these existing views and tables (all_synonyms, all_cons_columns, and all_constraints) from your database before each WorkflowGen version upgrade, then recreating them after completing the upgrade procedure.

create or replace force view WFGEN_USER.all_synonyms (owner, synonym_name, table_owner, table_name, db_link) as select null, null, null, null, null from dual;

create table WFGEN_USER.all_cons_columns as select * from sys.all_cons_columns where owner = 'WFGEN_USER';

create table WFGEN_USER.all_constraints as select owner, constraint_name, constraint_type, table_name, r_owner, r_constraint_name, delete_rule, status, deferrable, deferred, validated, generated, bad, rely, last_change, index_owner, index_name, invalid, view_related from sys.all_constraints where owner = 'WFGEN_USER'

WorkflowGen setup (PowerShell installation)

The following procedure applies to the setup using the WorkflowGen PowerShell installation, which is only compatible with:

  • MS SQL Server with SQL Server authentication enabled

  • Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, and Windows 10 x64

For Oracle database and/or other versions of Windows, use the the manual installation procedure.

You'll need an active internet connection to perform this installation unless all of the dependencies have been downloaded by running the script with the -DownloadOnly script flag.

Notes

  • By default, the PowerShell installation will always install the latest version of WorkflowGen. To install previous versions of WorkflowGen, replace the download URL of the latest manual installation pack (located in scripts\settings.json under WFGManualZipPath) with the WorkflowGen version number in the x-x-x format; for example, to download WorkflowGen version 7.5.0, the URL would be http://download.workflowgen.com/product/7-5-0/manual.zip.

  • The PowerShell installation will also install Node.js version 6.11.5, iisnode, and IIS Url Rewrite.

Installation

  1. Open config.json in a text editor and configure the parameters for your installation of WorkflowGen (see Configuration parameters below for information on each parameter).

  2. Open a PowerShell instance as Administrator.

  3. Run .\install.ps1 (with the optional script flags listed in Optional parameters below, if desired).

Notes

  • Ensure that the PowerShell Execution Policy is correctly set (see https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176961.aspx). If you want to avoid modifying the Execution Policy, you can bypass it by running the WorkflowGen installation script as follows: PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1.

  • Clicking on the shell while it is running will pause the output; you can change this option in the PowerShell options, or press ENTER to resume the output (this will not pause the script, which will continue to run in the background).

Optional PowerShell script flags

PowerShell installation configuration parameters

Important notes

  • In JSON format, backslashes (\) must be escaped as follows:

{
  "param" : "C:\\valid\\windows\\path"
}
  • You can abort the script at any point by pressing CTRL+C. If this is done during a download or extraction process, the folders created might need to be deleted (e.g. \package\); otherwise, the script will detect their presence and assume that they are complete.

WorkflowGen setup (InstallShield Wizard installation)

The InstallShield Wizard installation is deprecated as of WorkflowGen 7.6.0. You can instead use the PowerShell installation, or the manual installation procedure.

WorkflowGen setup (manual installation)

The following procedure applies to the setup using the WorkflowGen manual installation pack.

Installation pack

Start by extracting the manual installation pack (.zip) to a temporary folder on the WorkflowGen web server (e.g. DRIVE:\temp).

The installation pack contains these folders:

  • Databases: the database creation scripts for both SQL Server and Oracle

  • Inetpub: the WorkflowGen application files

  • Program Files: the WorkflowGen Windows services application file

WorkflowGen files and folders architecture

The recommended physical directory structure for WorkflowGen web application files and folders should be under DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen. This folder contains static resources such as images, HTML files and process data, and the applications used by WorkflowGen.

  1. Copy the source \Inetpub folder to your destination DRIVE:\ (e.g. DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen).

  2. Copy the source Advantys folder (\Program Files\Advantys) to your destination DRIVE:\Program Files (e.g. DRIVE:\Program Files\Advantys\WorkflowGen\Services\bin).

    Note: If you already have another version of WorkflowGen installed on the same server and you want to keep your previous WorkflowGen services, we suggest you choose another installation folder for version 7 (e.g. DRIVE:\Program Files\Advantys\WorkflowGen v7\Services\bin).

Database creation

Important: WorkflowGen does not support case sensitive collation, so you must set up the database to be case insensitive to avoid errors.

MS SQL Server configuration

Note: If you're currently using MS SQL Server version 2008, we highly recommend upgrading to SQL Server version 2012 or later, since there has been a WorkflowGen performance improvement in response time when loading large paginated request or action lists for SQL Server versions later than 2008 only.

CreateWFGSQLDatabase.vbs

  1. Run the "DRIVE:\temp\pack\Databases\MsSQLServer\CreateWFGSQLDatabase.vbs" database creation script.

  2. Choose Yes to confirm the database creation.

  3. Choose No for SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2/2012.

  4. Choose Yes for SQL Server 2005 or No for SQL Server 2008/2008 R2/2012.

  5. Choose Yes for SQL Server 2008 or No for SQL Server 2008 R2/2012.

  6. Choose Yes for SQL Server 2008 R2 or No for SQL Server 2012.

  7. Enter the MS SQL Server instance name.

  8. Enter a Catalog name (e.g. WFGEN).

  9. Enter an MS SQL Server administrator account name (e.g. sa).

  10. Enter the administrator password.

  11. Enter a database data (mdf) and logging (ldf) destination folder (e.g. DRIVE:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL[X]\MSSQL\DATA).

  12. Enter a maximum size for the data and log files (e.g. 1000). We suggest changing this later to unrestricted growth for both data and logging files in the MS SQL Server Management Studio tool.

  13. Click OK to create the database.

Note: An SQL server user account called WFGEN_USER with the password Admin123! will be created as part of this script. This account will only have the "db_datareader" and "db_datawriter" permissions on the WorkflowGen database, and can be used in the WorkflowGen web application database connection.

Oracle database configuration

Important: An Oracle database instance will NOT be created with this script. It is necessary to provide an existing empty Oracle database instance prior to the installation of WorkflowGen. See Requirements for installation on Oracle databases for Oracle database installation parameters.

Oracle (CreateWFGOracleDatabase.vbs)

  1. Run the "DRIVE:\temp\pack\Databases\Oracle\CreateWFGOracleDatabase.vbs" database creation script .

  2. Click Yes to confirm the database creation.

  3. Enter the Oracle database instance name you created (e.g. "WFGEN").

  4. Enter the administrator account name you created (e.g. "WFGEN_USER").

  5. Enter the administrator password.

  6. Click OK to create the database.

Oracle (manual)

  1. Open DBA studio, SQL Plus, or SQL Developer.

  2. Connect to your Oracle database instance with the administrator account you created.

  3. Open the DRIVE:\temp\pack\Databases\Oracle source folder and run the following database creation SQL scripts on the new database instance in the following order:

    1. Create_WFG-V7-0_Oracle_Crebas.sql

    2. Create_WFG-V7-0_Oracle_Const.sql

WorkflowGen Administrator account setup

WorkflowGen requires a valid Windows NT or Active Directory account. This account will be used by the WorkflowGen Administrator, but it is not necessary to define it as a NT or Active Directory Administrator.

  • You can use an existing user account or create a new user account with the name "Domain\wfgen_admin".

  • If you use a different account name other than "wfgen_admin", then you MUST change the "WorkflowGen Administrator" username in the WorkflowGen database. To do this, in the Users table, find the record with the column "USERNAME" value "wfgen_admin", then change it to your custom user account name.

WorkflowGen web configuration

  1. Open and edit the "DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen\web.config" WorkflowGen web configuration file.

  2. Update the database connection string:

    • MS SQL Server: <add name="MainDbSource" connectionString="Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=WFGEN;User ID=WFGEN_USER;Password=Admin123!;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

    • Oracle: <add name="MainDbSource" connectionString="Data Source=WFGEN;User ID=WFGEN_USER;Password=Admin123!;" providerName="System.Data.OracleClient" />

  3. Update the "WorkflowGen Administrator" username to allow access to the configuration panel (e.g. ).

  4. Set an SMTP server or SMTP gateway name (e.g. <add key="ApplicationSmtpServer" value="smtpservername" />).

  5. Update the application URL (e.g. <add key="ApplicationUrl" value="http://yoursite/wfgen" />).

  6. Set a default email sender for the notification (e.g. <add key="EngineNotificationDefaultSender" value="workflowgen@company.com" />).

WorkflowGen Windows Services installation

Notes

  • The user or identity used to run WorkflowGen Windows Services must be an administrator, be part of the Administrators group, or be a Windows system account (such as "Local System"). You can check this by running "services.msc".

  • If you have specified a custom installation path for the services, you will need to update the path inside the "DRIVE:\Program Files\Advantys[Custom WorkflowGen]\Services\bin\winsvc-install.cmd" script (e.g. %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe /i "C:\Program Files\Advantys\[Custom WorkflowGen]\Services\bin\WfgDirectoriesSyncService.exe").

  • If you are installing these services along with previous WorkflowGen services on the same server, you will need to provide a new service name (e.g. WorkflowGenEngineServiceV7) for both the Engine and Directory services in their configuration files ([WfgWorkflowEngineService.exe].config: <add key="ServiceName" value="WorkflowGenEngineServiceV7"></add>) and script files (winsvc-install.cmd: Rename all [WorkflowGenEngineService] to [WorkflowGenEngineServiceV7]). (See the Configuring multiple instances of WorkflowGen section for information and instructions on how to configure multiple WorkflowGen services on the same server.)

Installation

  1. Open and edit the "DRIVE:\Program Files\Advantys\WorkflowGen\Services\bin\WfgWorkflowEngineService.exe.config" Engine service configuration file.

  2. Update the WorkflowGen web configuration path (e.g. <add key="WebConfigPath" value="DRIVE:\inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen\web.config" />).

  3. Open and edit the "DRIVE:\Program Files\Advantys\WorkflowGen\Services\bin\WfgDirectoriesSyncService.exe.config" Directory Synchronization service configuration file.

  4. Update the WorkflowGen web configuration path (e.g. <add key="WebConfigPath" value="DRIVE:\inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen\web.config" />).

    Note: "WfgWorkflowEngineService.exe " and "WfgDirectoriesSyncService.exe" might be blocked. To check this, right-click on them and choose Properties. If the Security section is displayed at the bottom of the General tab, these executables have been blocked; in this case, click Unblock.

  5. Run "DRIVE:\Program Files\Advantys\WorkflowGen\Services\bin\winsvc-install.cmd" as Administrator.

Application files access configuration

File permissions

File permission settings can be configured as follows for the WorkflowGen application identity:

  • DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen: Modify all.

According to your authentication method (see Security), the WorkflowGen application identity can be:

  • The corresponding Windows users

  • The ASP.NET or IIS application pool identity

Configuring IIS

Creating the application pool

It is recommended that WorkflowGen be isolated from other applications by creating its own application pool and associating all declared applications with the new application pool.

Note: Domain users and the Windows accounts used to run the WorkflowGen IIS application pool and Engine service must have read and write permissions for the \wfgen\app_data folder.

IIS 7 / 7.5 / 8.0

  1. Click Application pools. In the right-hand pane, right-click and select Add application pool, and give it a name (e.g. "WorkflowGen").

  2. Select the .NET Framework 4 version.

  3. Select Integrated pipeline mode.

  4. Click OK.

Creating the website (if WorkflowGen is set up on a new website)

IIS 7 / 7.5 / 8.0

  1. Launch the IIS Manager and expand the tree structure under the IIS server name where you want to create the new site.

  2. Right-click the Sites icon and select Add Web Site. Enter the name of the site, select its application pool (if other than the default), and enter the physical path of the root (click Browse and select the \wwwroot folder, usually DRIVE:\inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen).

  3. Select the binding as being http or https (note that https requires an SSL certificate). Select a port (the default is 80) and/or a host header. Please contact your IIS administrator to review your options regarding setting up appropriate website settings.

Configuring the website

IIS 7 / 7.5 / 8.0

Default document

The default document type "default.aspx" must be created if it does not exist. By default, this default document should exist on an IIS server running .NET.

To verify this, click the icon of the site, and ensure that the pane on the right-hand side shows the Features view (the tab at the bottom of the pane allows you to switch between Features and Content). Double-click the Default document icon. If "default.aspx" is missing from the list, add it to the beginning of the comma-separated list displayed. To improve performance you can move "default.aspx" to the beginning of the list if it is not already there.

Authentication

  1. Click the icon of the site, and ensure that the pane on the right-hand side shows the Features view.

  2. Double-click the Authentication icon.

  3. Right-click on Anonymous authentication and select Disable.

  4. Right-click on Basic authentication and select Enable. You will be able to change the authentication method by following the instructions in the Security section.

Creating the WorkflowGen application

IIS 7 / 7.5 / 8.0

  1. Right-click on wfgen under the \wwwroot folder and select Convert to application.

  2. Select the WorkflowGen application pool if it is not the default, then click OK.

Configuring the WorkflowGen root website to auto-redirect to the wfgen web app

If you would like your WorkflowGen root website (e.g. https://server) to auto-redirect to the https://server/wfgen web app , follow the procedure below.

  1. Make sure the URL Rewrite tool is installed on your WorkflowGen server.

  2. Create or update the web.config file in your website's root folder (e.g. DRIVE:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config).

    Warning: This is not the same web.config file as the main WorkflowGen web.config file (located in DRIVE:\inetpub\wwroot\wfgen\web.config).

  3. Define the redirection rule node as shown below (configuration / system.webServer / <rewrite> / <rules> / <rule>):

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <configuration>
        <system.webServer>
            <rewrite>
                <rules>
                    <rule name="Root to wfgen" stopProcessing="true">
                        <match url="^$" />
                        <action type="Redirect" url="/wfgen/" />
                    </rule>
                </rules>
            </rewrite>
        </system.webServer>
    </configuration>

Creating workflow applications and services

The \wfgen\ws and \wfgen\WfApps\WebForms applications within WorkflowGen must be created. To do this, repeat the same steps you performed for \wfgen in the previous section.

ISAPI and CGI restrictions

If you are using IIS 7 and above and your application pool is set to use Classic Managed Pipeline Mode, make sure ASP.NET v4.0.30319 is set to "Allowed" in the IIS manager ISAPI and CGI Restrictions list.

WorkflowGen Node.js-based applications

To use the optional GraphQL and incoming webhooks APIs, you must first install the following requirements:

Note: After enabling GraphQL and incoming webhooks, the WorkflowGen DLLs will be in use by Node.js, so they will be locked from being updated. In order to update the DLLs, it is necessary to stop IIS.

Enabling WorkflowGen GraphQL

  1. In IIS, convert /wfgen/graphql to an application with a .NET 4 application pool (integrated pipeline).

  2. Configure the GraphQL application authentication mode:

    • For Windows or Basic authentication: Enable Basic authentication.

    • For WorkflowGen Applicative authentication:

      • Make sure the /wfgen web application already has WorkflowGen Applicative authentication enabled.

      • Enable Anonymous authentication.

Enabling WorkflowGen incoming webhooks

In IIS, convert /wfgen/hooks to an application with a .NET 4 application pool (integrated pipeline), and configure the hook application in Anonymous authentication mode.

If your WorkflowGen is configured to use WorkflowGen Applicative authentication or a custom authentication, you must remove the authentication module from the /hooks/web.config file:

  • For WorkflowGen Applicative authentication:

    <system.webServer>
        <modules>
            <remove name="ApplicationSecurityAuthenticationModule" />
        </modules>
    </system.webServer>
  • For Custom authentication:

    <system.webServer>
        <modules>
            <remove name="MyCustomAuthModule" />
        </modules>
    </system.webServer>

WorkflowGen Windows services

WorkflowGen engine service

Automatic task execution (e.g. overdue exceptions and notifications management) is provided by this Windows service. This service is installed by the setup InstallShield Wizard and is started automatically after installation. (Refer to WorkflowGen Windows Services installation if the manual installation procedure was used.)

If errors occurred while the service is running, those errors will appear in the Event Viewer (source: WorkflowGenEngineService) accessible in the Windows Administrative Tools. All the messages related to this service will be displayed in the Windows Logs / Application section.

To manage this Windows service execution, open Administrative Tools / Services, then select and open WorkflowGen Engine (WorkflowGenEngineService).

WorkflowGen directory synchronization service

The automatic users and groups synchronization is provided by this Windows service, which is installed by the setup InstallShield Wizard and is started automatically after installation. (Refer to WorkflowGen Windows Services installation if the manual installation procedure was used.)

If errors occurred while the service is running, those errors will appear in the Event Viewer (source: WorkflowGenDirSyncService) accessible in Windows Administrative Tools. All messages related to this service will be displayed in the Windows Logs / Application section.

To manage this Windows service execution, open Administrative Tools / Services, then select and open WorkflowGen Directory Sync (WorkflowGenDirSyncService).

License activation

Overview

You must have a trial, Developer, or Enterprise license to activate WorkflowGen.

You must have a serial number to activate the Developer and Enterprise versions of WorkflowGen. If you do not have one, contact your vendor.

How to activate WorkflowGen

Install the license file

  1. Remove all current .lic files from the DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen\bin folder.

  2. Copy your .lic file to the DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen\bin folder.

  3. Make sure the license file inherits the security settings.

Add the serial number to the web.config file

For the Developer and Enterprise editions of WorkflowGen, you must edit the "web.config" file located in the DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen folder.

  1. Edit the "\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen\web.config" file.

  2. Set your serial number as the value of the "ApplicationSerialNumber" parameter.

License per user

If you have a license per user, you cannot exceed the maximum number of users supported by your license, otherwise you will receive an error message when you try to launch a new request. However, user management will still be accessible.

If you want to import several users from your enterprise directory (Active Directory, LDAP, etc.), and since only active users are considered, you can choose between the following cases:

  • If your enterprise directory has fewer users than the maximum number of users supported by your WorkflowGen license, then you can import all of your users with the option New user default status set to Active.

  • If your enterprise directory has more users than the maximum number of users supported by your WorkflowGen license, then you should import all your users with New user default status set to Inactive and set the Self activation option as follows:

    • If you want to manually activate users authorized to use WorkflowGen, uncheck the Self activation option. A user will be able to access WorkflowGen once you activate their account from the Administration Module.

    • If you don’t want to worry about account activation, keep the Self activation option checked. New users connecting for the first time will be activated until the maximum number of users supported by your WorkflowGen license is reached.

Tests

Web app addresses

Check the following URLs with "wfgen_admin" user account:

  • User Portal: http://[yoursite]/wfgen

  • Administration Module: http://[yoursite]/wfgen/admin

If you are unable to log in, verify the web.config file in the root folder of the WorkflowGen application (usually DRIVE:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wfgen) and validate that the MainDbSource connection string contains the correct database connection information including server, database name, user, and password.

Test sample processes

You can create processes using the list of built-in process samples.

Additional configurations

You can change the security configuration (such as the authentication method) by following the instructions in the Security section.

Notes

  • Not all of the required configuration parameters of WorkflowGen are defined in this setup. It is recommended to update all other parameters in the Configuration panel in the WorkflowGen Administration Module after this setup. For more information, see the WorkflowGen Administration Module Reference Guide.

  • You can configure the time zone and language of new users through the Configuration panel in the Administration Module. You can also access the Configuration panel directly through the URL "http://[yoursite]/wfgen/admin/Config.aspx" once the setup is complete and the website is running.

  • The New User Time Zone settings can be changed on the General tab in the Configuration panel.

  • The New User Default Language can be changed on the Administration tab in the Configuration panel.

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